Baby Girl Bolton
by WithoutLove.LifeIsLike
Summary: Gabriella is the new girl in school, and Troy can't help himself from falling for her. But what about Katie? How will Gabriella react to Troy's daughter? Rated T for theme and minor language.
1. New Girl

Troy woke up to a slight weight in his left arm. He yawned and lifted the small girl as he stood from the rocking chair. Smiling slightly, he lay the young beauty down in her bed. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead.

"She's really lucky, you know," Mrs. Bolton said quietly, not wanting to wake the child.

"Nah, I'm the lucky one," he smiled, closing the door behind him as he left the room. "I can't believe how big she's getting," he added as the two walked towards his bedroom.

"I know. She's going to be two soon."

"I know when she was born, Ma. I was there, you know," he added somberly.

"_Troy," the voice on the other end of the phone cried._

"_Kaitlin? What's wrong?"_

"_The baby's coming."_

"_Now?"_

"_Now."_

"_I'm on my way."_

"_No. Stay where you are and finish the game."_

"_Katie…"_

"_Just come by after, okay? And win the game for me." _

"_I'm coming now."_

"_I love you, Troy. I'm really sorry," she said, crying harder than she was before._

"_I love you, too. I'll be there soon."_

"Troy, Kaitlin would have been so proud of you."

"I know, Ma. Goodnight," he said, kissing her cheek.

----

"Dude, did you hear?"

"Hey Chad," Troy yawned, grinning at his best friend since preschool.

"Dude. Did? You? Hear?" Chad repeated.

"No. I haven't. I was up all night with Katie again."

"She's still coughing?"

"Yeah, I think she's getting a fever, too."

"Bummer. Is she home with your mom?"

"Well it wasn't like I was going to send her to daycare like that. I shouldn't even be here but my mom said I couldn't miss school again. What's going on?" Troy sighed as the two walked to their homeroom and sat in their seats.

"Hey guys. Did you hear?" Taylor, Chad's girlfriend and Troy's very good friend, asked.

"I did. He didn't," Chad said, giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"Okay. I'm officially curious."

"There's a new girl," Taylor informed the clueless boy.

"So what? There's new kids all the time."

"Not as fine as this one," Chad exclaimed, earning him a look from his girlfriend.

"So that's the big news? You really made that up to be much more…" Troy didn't finish what he was saying, however he was suddenly distracted by a beautiful girl with long, curly, brown hair walking through the door.

"Wow," Troy exhaled almost involuntarily.

"Told you," Chad said, punching his buddy lightly on the arm.

"And she's super smart. Number one in her class at her old school… won a whole bunch of academic awards, too," Taylor added.

"How do you know all that?" Troy inquired, not taking his eyes off the new student.

"The principal told me before he introduced us," Taylor explained. "Gabriella! Over here!"

"What?" Troy said, his eyes screaming at Taylor.

"Hi, Taylor," Gabriella smiled, looking at the two boys curiously.

"This is my boyfriend Chad," Taylor introduced.  
"Nice to meet you," Chad smiled, offering his hand to Gabriella. She shook it and smiled back at him.

"And this is Troy," Taylor continued. Gabriella looked up and locked eyes with Troy. It felt as though time had stopped. Troy held his breath as he shook her hand. Realizing that he was holding it a little to long, Troy dropped it and excused himself, claiming he left a book in his locker. Chad looked at Taylor worriedly before following his best friend out into the hall.

"Sorry," Chad said politely.

"What was that about?" Gabriella asked, watching the boys leave.

"Who knows? Guys are weird. Have you thought any more about joining the scholastic decathlon team?"

----

"Troy? Dude! What was that about?" Chad asked, catching up to his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"Well for starters your locker is in the other direction. Dude," Chad said, blocking Troy's path. Looking into Troy's eyes he sighed and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "What do you say we ditch homeroom and go shoot some hoops?"

"Yeah. That sounds good," Troy nodded, leading the way to the gym. It took the boys almost no time to be in the gym, a place they considered their second home. It took all of two minutes for Troy to start talking.

"Damn it, Chad. This is not supposed to happen!" Troy snapped, missing the basket he was shooting.

"What wasn't supposed to happen?" Chad asked, catching the ball and plopping down on the wooden floor of the gym. Troy took a seat next to him and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I wasn't supposed to feel this way."

"Troy. You haven't even had a conversation with this girl."

"No, I know that. But God… Chad I looked in her eyes and it was like…"

"I don't see what the problem is," Chad urged.

"You know exactly what the problem is. What about Katie?"

"What about Katie?"

"I just what… meet another girl and forget all about her?"

"Of course not. But I have to wonder… which Katie are you worried about?"

"_Dad!" Fifteen-year-old Troy called out, running towards his father._

"_Troy, what are you doing? You're supposed to be…"_

"_Dad. Kaitlin's having the baby."_

"_Let's go." The two quickly drove to the hospital and Troy hurried up to the room that Kaitlin was supposed to be in. He saw his mother along outside the room with tears in her eyes._

"_Mom?" Troy said, slowing down._

"_Troy…" Mrs. Bolton said, quickly wiping her tears. "I thought you were going to finish the game."_

"_It's a freshman basketball game, Mom. Where's Kaitlin?"_

"_Honey…" Mrs. Bolton began as Kaitlin's teary parents exited the hospital room._

"_Troy," Kaitlin's mom cried before rushing off, her husband following close behind._

"_Mom. What's going on?" Troy asked, tears beginning to form in his eyes._

"_Troy… I'm so sorry."_

"_For what? What's going on? Where's Katie? Where's the baby?"_

"_There were some… complications…"_

"_No."_

"_Kaitlin's gone, Honey. I'm so sorry," she said again, tears falling as she watched her son's heart break._


	2. What About Katie?

"Chad! Troy! Over here!" Taylor called out, motioning for the two boys to join her and Gabriella at their usual lunch table. Chad smiled and took a seat next to his girlfriend, leaving Troy to sit next to the new girl Gabriella. The two made brief eye contact leaving them both with butterflies.

"Mmmm, Taylor, I love your mom's hummus," Chad exclaimed, reaching over her to take a spoonful of her lunch for himself.

"Where'd you guys run off to during homeroom? I thought you'd come back before the bell."

"Nah. We went to shoot some hoops," Chas explained.

"Do you guys play basketball?" Gabriella asked, aiming to get to know the two boys a bit better.

"Hah! 'Do we play basketball?'! Woman, you are looking at the co-captains of the East High Varsity Basketball team," Chad bragged.

"Oh really? That's cool. How long have you guys been playing?" Gabriella directed the question towards Troy, but he continued to stay silent as Chad answered her once again.

"Well Troy's dad has been the coach here since before we were born. He's been training us for this since we were old enough to hold a basketball."

"I tried learning to play basketball once in middle school. It was embarrassing," she admitted, giggling softly. Troy couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh. "I could barely shoot a basket."

"It couldn't be that bad," Troy offered, finally speaking.

"Maybe you could teach me sometime?" Gabriella asked hopefully. Troy noticeably hesitated before answering.

"Sure. Sounds like a plan. So where'd you move here from?"

----

The more Gabriella revealed about herself during lunch, the more Troy wanted to get to know her better. By the end of the hour, he was so overwhelmed by the new surge of emotions that he felt the urge to ditch another class and head back towards the gym. Chad, sensing his best friend's desire to miss Calculus, pulled him aside before the bell rang.

"Troy," Chad began.

"Chad. I can't. I can't do that to Katie," Troy argued before Chad could even say anything.

"You're not doing anything to Kaitlin. You're moving on… you have to eventually. It's been two years, Dude."

"I know. But I just feel like I'm cheating on her. And what about Katie?"

"Katie is a good girl. And I'm sure if she could talk she'd tell you she wants you to be happy."

"And what if she finds out about Katie and freaks out?"

"Than she's not worth it anyway. Troy, I saw the way you were staring at her. I haven't seen that stare in years."

"I know. I like her," Troy sighed quietly.

"Than do something about it."

"You ready to go?" Taylor asked, coming up behind the boys.

"Yeah," Chad smiled, putting his arm around his girlfriend.

"Troy, Gabriella has English with Davis. Could you walk her on your way to Calc?" Taylor inquired.

"Yea, no problem," Troy smiled nervously. Chad gave him one last look of confidence before he and Taylor left the two alone.

"So. English with Davis?" Troy began, leading the way.

"Yup."

"He's pretty advanced stuff."

"I know," Gabriella smiled shyly. "My mom thought it would be a good challenge."

"That's cool. Are you good in English, then?"

"I'm alright. I'm better at math."

"Gabriella?" Troy stopped suddenly, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"Yes?"

"I haven't done this in a while, but… would you like to go out with me this weekend?"

"I would love to," she smiled.

---

"What was I thinking?" Troy groaned that night as he rocked his little girl in his arms.

"You were thinking that you like this girl and you wanted to see her outside of school. That's normal, Troy," his mother offered, trying to comfort him.

"Well I don't exactly have a normal situation, do I?"

"No, but you still deserve to be happy."

"I am happy," he sighed, calming the baby as she began to whimper. "Shh… Baby Girl. Go to sleep…"

"Well you may be happy, but you could be happier. Troy, you're seventeen years old. You should be having a little fun. When's the last time you went out on a weekend for something other than a basketball game?"

"I can't just go out and party every weekend, Mama. You told me that yourself."

"I know that, Troy," she said, admiring Troy has he put his sleeping daughter in her crib. "You are such an excellent father. And I promise if you go out for a few hours this weekend that won't change."

"_Troy?" Mrs. Bolton asked worriedly as she entered her son's room. He was sitting on the bed staring at the newborn in front of him._

"_Is she supposed to do anything?" Troy asked, looking up at his mother._

"_Not much more than this. Did you pick a name yet? The hospital needs a name to put on her birth certificate."_

"_Katie."_

"_Kaitlin it is."_

"_No. Not Kaitlin. Katie."_

"_Okay… Katie it is."_

"_Mom?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I'm afraid if I pick her up I'll break her."_

"_I promise you won't break her, Sweetie," his mother laughed softly. She made her way over to the infant and scooped her up, placing her in her father's arms._

"_Oh," was all Troy could manage._

"Does she know about Katie?"

"No. Not yet."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Well it's not like she's a secret. Everyone at school knows about her."

"Yes, but she's new."

"Let's just see if I make it through the date."

----

The rest of the week went by slowly. Every day Troy walked Gabriella to her English class, and while Gabriella felt herself getting more and more excited for their date, Troy was getting more and more nervous.

"So. We're still on for tonight?" Gabriella asked as they arrived at her classroom.

"Yup. I'll pick you up at seven. Where do you live?"

"You can pick me up at Taylor's. She's insisted upon preparing me," she giggled.

"Sounds good. I'll see you tonight," Troy smiled.

----

"Ma?" Troy called out worriedly as soon as he walked in the front door. His voice was drowned out by the sound of Katie crying, however. Troy rushed upstairs and into his daughter's room. "Dad? What's wrong with her?" He asked upon entering the room and seeing his father holding his little girl. Troy hurried over and took Katie from his father's arms.

"Shhh… Baby Girl… what's wrong?"

"Your mom thinks she's just overtired."

"She's a little warm," Troy observed.

"That could just be from her crying."

"I'm not going out tonight," Troy decided out loud.

"Oh no you don't. You are going out, and your mother and I are babysitting."

"No. Not when Katie is sick."

"She'll be fine, Troy. You should go. It'll be good for you."

"Do you promise to call if she doesn't calm down?"

"Yes. I promise."

"Fine. But I'm not going unless I can get her to sleep first."

----

"Troy!" Taylor exclaimed angrily as she allowed the boy into her house. "You're almost fifteen minutes late!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't get Katie down," he explained. "Is she mad?"

"No. I don't even think she noticed, she's so nervous. She's up in my room changing her hair for, like, the millionth time."

"Okay, well whenever she's ready," he sighed, leaning against the staircase.

"Gabriella!" Taylor called up the stairs. "Troy is here!"

Gabriella gracefully walked down the stairs with a nervous smile plastered on her face.

"Wow," Troy smiled back. "You look beautiful," he said honestly.

"Thank you," she smiled shyly.

"You're hair looks really nice, too," he added for good measure, earning a smirk from Taylor. "You ready to go?"

"Yea," she grinned, allowing Troy to lead the way.


	3. The Vicious Cycle

"No way," Troy laughed, leaning in a little more towards Gabriella.

"I swear. It took my mom almost a year to get me out in the pool again," Gabriella laughed, causing Troy's stomach to release a fresh batch of butterfly.

The two had been out for almost two hours, starting with dinner and continuing with a walk in the park. The two stopped at a bench and sat down next to each other.

"I feel like I've been talking about myself all night," Gabriella smiled. "Tell me about you."

"There's not much to tell. I play basketball, I go to school. Not much else," he grinned, feeling slightly guilty that he left a very important detail of his life out.

"I disagree. I think there's much more…" she flirted.

"Oh? You do, do you?"

"Mmhmm. You're pretty quiet. Fairly secretive about your family. And you're telling me that in the four years of high school you've never done anything but play basketball?" She giggled, leaning in.

"Well I think…" he began leaning in too, but the moment was ruined when his cell phone began to ring. "It's my mom. I'm sorry, I should get this," he apologized, slightly grateful that the moment didn't go any further.

"Hello?" Gabriella watched as his face changed from curious as to why his mother was calling and worried over what she was saying. "I'll be right there."

"You have to go?"

"I'm really sorry," Troy apologized, fishing through his pockets for his car keys.

"It's okay," she smiled sadly, following him back to his car. The two drove back to Gabriella's house in silence, except for the directions she was giving him. When they arrived at her house, he put the car in park and turned towards her.

"I'm really sorry I had to end this early."

"Don't worry about it. Things happen."

"Listen, normally I'd walk you to the door…"

"Don't worry about it," she nodded, gathering her things and unbuckling her seat belt.

"I promise I'll do the end of the date better next time," he grinned. She smiled at his words 'next time.'

"I'll hold you to that. See you on Monday," she smiled.

"Goodnight," he smiled back. As soon as she shut the car door Troy took off and drove home, which was thankfully only a few blocks away.

"Mom?" Troy yelled as he entered his house, running straight to the kitchen where he heard crying. He very worriedly took the screaming baby from his mother's arms. "She's burning up."

"She had a slight fever an hour ago…"

"An hour ago?! Why didn't you call me?!"

"Because it was low, Troy, and despite what you may think I am capable of taking care of her too. You're not the only one who loves her."

"I know. But I'm her dad. She's mine. Not ours," he sighed, kissing the top of the little girls forehead. Mrs. Bolton sighed in defeat.

"I know," she said. "And you're right. I should have called."

"How long has she been crying?"

"About forty-five minutes."

"I'm going to take her to the ER."

"Do you want me to come?" She asked her son, not wanting to step over the line again. Troy looked at his mother and she realized just how scared he was.

"Yes," he told her.

"Let's go."

----

"Is she okay?" Mr. Bolton asked as his wife and son walked back into their house later that night with his sleeping granddaughter.

"Yea. They gave her a shot of penicillin and sent us home," Troy told him, carrying Katie up towards her room. On a second thought, he brought her to the bassinet in his own room and laid her down in that. Downstairs, his parents were talking.

"Did he tell you about the date at all?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"Not really. Just that he was having a good time."

"Well that's good, right?"

"I would say that's very good."

----

"So you and Gabi almost kissed?" Chad smirked the next day while the two were hanging out in his room.

"We didn't almost kiss," Troy argued, rocking Katie in her car seat. "We were both kind of leaning in when my mom called," he explained. "How did you even know that?"

"Gabi told Taylor. Taylor told me."

"So how do I know that you're not going to tell Taylor what I'm telling you and then she's going to tell Gabriella?"

"You don't. It's a vicious cycle," Chad grinned. Troy stared back unimpressed.

"For the record, I had a really nice time with her."

"And off the record?"

"Off the record… I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"Troy, it's been two years."

"That doesn't make it suck any less."

"I know."

"No. You don't."

"You're right. I don't. And I hope I never do. But what I do know is that you had fun with Gabriella, and she had fun with you."

"She said she had fun?"

"She did," Chad smiled, picking up Katie from her car seat and sitting her on his lap.

----

Later that night, Troy was lying on his bed with Katie in his arms. She yawned and stuck her thumb in her mouth and Troy kissed her head.

"What do you think Baby Girl? Should I go for it with this girl? What about Mommy? What do you suppose she would think about it?" He asked glancing at a picture of Kaitlin that he had sitting on his desk.

"I think she'd want you to move on and be happy," Mrs. Bolton said, standing in his doorway.

"Thanks for eavesdropping, Ma," Troy chuckled, looking up at his mother.

"I didn't mean to. I just came up to tell you that Chad's downstairs. There's a girl with him."

"Taylor?"

"Nope. Not Taylor. Gabriella."

"She's here? Now?" Troy asked, starting to panic.

"Yes. They want you to come out and play it sounds like."

"Can you watch her for a minute?" Troy asked, laying Katie on his bed.

"Sure," his mother smiled, sitting down next to the sleepy baby. Troy's thoughts were racing as he made his way downstairs.

"Troy!" Chad exclaimed at the sight of his best friend.

"Chad. Gabriella. What are you guys doing here?" Troy asked, silently cursing Chad with his eyes.

"Is now a bad time?" Gabriella asked politely.

"I was just gonna help Miss Gabriella here shoot a free throw. Thought you might wanna help," Chad explained.

"Dude, you know I can't," Troy said, glaring at his best friend.

"Yes you can," Mrs. Bolton called from upstairs.

"Your mom says you can," Chad pointed out, pushing his friend to break. Gabriella sensed there was something going on that she didn't know about and chose to ignore it, letting the two boys work it out silently on their own. And they did. With multiple glares sent back and forth between the two boys, a full conversation was had that both boys had clearly understood.

"Come on. Hoop is out back," Troy smiled at Gabriella, as Chad led the way. About a half hour into their playing time, Chad excused himself to get some water from Troy's kitchen.

"Hey, Dude. Check on… my mom. Will you?" Troy almost begged.

"Sure," Chad agreed, understanding that he was meant to check on Katie.

"So you and Chad have known each other a long time then?" Gabriella asked as she watched Troy throw a perfect three pointer.

"Since preschool. Is it that obvious?"

"Well he mentioned something about it earlier, but it was the fact that you two had an entire conversation with your eyes that totally gave it away," she giggled, catching the ball that Troy tossed. She stood at the free throw line and took her best shot, which wasn't very good at all. "I told you I sucked," she added.

"No, you're just not doing it right," he explained, picking up the ball and handing it to her. He then proceeded to stand behind her and show her exactly just how to shoot that free throw. The ball glided through the air and into the net. Gabriella squealed in delight and turned around to face Troy. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Troy's immediate instinct was to hug her back, just as tightly. After a few seconds, however, he pulled back a bit awkwardly.

"Sorry," Gabriella apologized, afraid she was taking things too fast.

"Don't be," Troy said immediately. "Hey listen, do you want to go out again next weekend?"

"I'd love to," Gabriella smiled. Chad, having seen the whole exchange, began to walk towards them. Troy heard his footsteps and turned towards him.

"I checked on your mom. She's fine."


	4. Mixed Signals

Chad left early that night, leaving Troy and Gabriella to themselves for almost an hour. Giving up on making Gabriella a talented basketball star, the two teenagers laid back on the grass and stared up into the night sky together.

"Do you ever look up at the stars and swear you can see your future?" Gabriella wondered out loud.

"Sometimes," Troy admitted. And it was true. Sometimes he looked up into the sky and saw his baby girl. Other times, however, he looked up and swore he saw the shine that used to be in Kaitlin's eyes.

"I like you, Troy," Gabriella said suddenly. Troy looked over at her and smiled slightly.

"I like you, too."

---

Weeks had passed since that night Gabriella and Chad came over to shoot hoops. Troy and Gabriella had been on several more dates and were becoming closer by the minute. They sat together at lunch and Troy was slowly becoming more comfortable with the idea of him with a girl other than Kaitlin. While Troy was quite happy with the slow progression of things, Gabriella felt as though she was getting very mixed signals.

"I mean, we've been dating for over a month," Gabriella sighed as her and Taylor sat down at lunch on afternoon. "Unofficially, of course, but dating."

"You're right," Taylor nodded. She was finding it harder and harder to not spill Troy's secret in his defense.

"He hasn't even kissed me yet. And last week, he canceled on me last minute. No explanation or anything," Gabriella said thoughtfully. "I don't understand this guy." Taylor sighed. She knew why Troy had suddenly canceled his date. Katie had been feeling a bit warm earlier in the evening and he didn't want a repeat of their first date when he had to leave early.

"Why don't you ask him?" Taylor offered. "They're heading over here now." The Gabriella turned around and saw the two boys walking towards them. Chad had his trademark grin on his face, but Troy looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was messed up and it looked as though he didn't shave that morning.

"Troy? You okay?" Taylor asked, concerned.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night," he explained. Taylor nodded knowingly and let the subject go.

"Troy? Can we talk?" Gabriella asked, deciding to take Taylor's advice. "Alone?"

"Sure," he nodded nervously and turned around. She followed and the two walked down the hall to an empty classroom.

"What's going on?" He asked, worried that someone had spilled the beans about his daughter.

"I was just… well I was just wondering… what's… well… what's going on. With us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, are we together? Or are we just hanging out as friends or what?"

"Well, what do you want us to be?" Troy asked, feeling as though while the question seemed a bit out of left field, it was legitimate.

"I mean we've gone out every weekend for over a month. And some school nights too."

"We have," Troy agreed.

"But you… or we really… haven't done anything that would suggest that it was anything more than two friends hanging out. Is that what it is?" She asked nervously. It hit Troy like a ton of bricks. She wanted him to do something like put his arm around her, hold her hand, _kiss _her even, to show her what they were. He hadn't kissed anyone since Kaitlin and although he liked Gabriella... well… REALLY liked Gabriella… he wasn't sure he was ready for that kind of commitment.

"Gabi…" Troy started apologetically. She sensed his tone but the bell rang before he could finish. "We should get to class," he said instead. She nodded hesitantly and followed him out the empty classroom just as Chad and Taylor were walking by.

"I'll catch up with you, Tay," Chad said, hanging back with Troy while the two girls kept walking. When they were out of earshot Chad spoke again. "You guys were alone in that empty classroom for a while…"

"Nothing happened," Troy immediately told him.

"Only you, Dude," Chad shook his head and the two walked to class. Meanwhile, the girls were having a very similar conversation.

"He didn't kiss me," Gabriella sighed as soon as they were out of earshot from the boys.

"Troy likes to take things slow," Taylor defended.

"Waiting until the third date to kiss a girl is taking it slow. Waiting until the third month is 'I-don't-really-like-you-and-I'm-using-you-to-pass-the-time-until-I-find-something-or-someone-better-to-do'."

"Troy's not like that. In fact, he must really like you because he hasn't taken a girl out on a date since…" Taylor stopped herself from finishing with _'since Kaitlin'_ and instead finished with the also truthful, "since freshman year." Gabriella stopped in her tracks.

"Troy hasn't dated anyone since he was a freshman?"

"He likes to keep to himself."

"So what, I'm the first girl he's dated?"

"No, I didn't say that," Taylor said, realizing she was quickly putting herself in a position that she didn't want to be in.

"So he had a girlfriend freshman year?"

"Yes."

"And… what? She broke his heart and he vowed never to love again," Gabriella joked.

"Something like that," Taylor said, attempting to smile. _You have no idea_, she thought. Finding it hard to finish a conversation about a girl who used to be her best friend, Taylor changed the subject. "So, do you want to study for the Physics test together?"

----

"Hey, Taylor. I didn't know you were coming over," Troy smiled as he let the girl in after school that day.

"We need to talk."

"Are you breaking up with me?" He joked, handing her Katie. She smiled took Katie into her arms, laughing when the child cooed at her. Troy smiled at the scene and poured some apple juice into a sippy-cup. He added some water to it before handing it to the little girl in Taylor's arms. She took it willingly and decided to point out exactly what was in her hands.

"Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!" Katie chanted. Taylor laughed.

"That's right, Honey. It's juice," Taylor smiled, touching Katie's nose.

"So what's going on?" Troy asked, looking up at Taylor. Taylor sat down with Katie in her lap and Troy followed suit.

"Are you planning on taking things further with Gabriella, Troy?" Troy looked at his feet before continuing.

"Taylor…"

"Troy."

"I want to. It's just…"

"Troy, Kaitlin was my best friend. My very best friend for three years before it happened. And I'm sitting here, as her best friend, and your good friend, telling you that Kaitlin wouldn't be mad. Or hurt. She would be happy for you." Taylor's heart broke as she witnessed a few tears fall from Troy's eyes as he continued to stare at his feet. He quickly wiped them away and looked up at her.

"What about Katie? I can't just keep bringing home girls I think I like. What kind of message would that send to her?"

"She's not even two, Troy."

"She's a baby, Taylor, she's not stupid," Troy snapped, taking Katie from Taylor's arms. "She notices things."

"I'm not implying that, Troy. I'm just saying that she's not going to run off and start bringing random boys home just because you start dating one girl that you really like. At least not yet," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. She swore she saw Troy crack a small smile.

"Gabriella doesn't even know about her."

"Then tell her."

"And if she freaks out?"

"Then it doesn't matter anyway, does it?"


	5. We Should Talk

Gabriella decided to find out once and for all what was going on with her and Troy. She found herself marching up directly to Troy's locker, but stopped in her tracks when she overheard Troy and Chad talking about what she assumed to be her. She stood back to a spot where they couldn't see her and continued to listen.

"She wants me to kiss her," Troy sighed.

"She told you that?"

"No. It was implied."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I can't kiss her, Dude. What about Katie?"

"Which Katie?"

"You know, I'm really sick of playing this game with you."

"Well if you tell me that you don't want to kiss her because you think that it will somehow hurt that pretty little girl you've got waiting for you at home, fine. I'll try to understand."

Before he could say anymore, Gabriella left in tears, unnoticed by both boys.

"But if you're telling me that you think you're cheating on Kaitlin somehow," Chad continued, "then I think we need to have a much bigger conversation."

"Taylor said Kaitlin would have been happy for me. That she would have wanted me to move on."

"Taylor's a smart girl. So what are you going to do?"

"I guess… I guess I should take her to meet Katie."

"I think that's a really good idea," Chad said, slapping his best friend on the arm.

"Fuck my life," Troy groaned. "Why couldn't I just live happily ever after with my daughter and no one else?"

"Do you want me and Taylor to be there?"

"No. I should do this alone."

----

"Gabi? What's wrong?" Taylor asked concerned, seeing her friend making a beeline for the door with tears falling from her eyes.

"I overheard Troy and Chad talking," Gabriella huffed. "Chad asked Troy about us and Troy said he wouldn't kiss me because of Katie. Of course he's seeing another girl! God, how could I be so stupid?" Gabriella cried, continuing out the door.

"Wait! Gabriella!" Taylor said, calling after her. "Tell me exactly what you heard." Gabriella sighed and relayed what she had heard to Taylor. Taylor took a deep breath before speaking.

"Gabriella. I think you need to talk to Troy."

"No," Gabriella replied angrily, walking off the in opposite direction just as Chad and Troy turned the corner.

"Troy!" Taylor called out. "Gabi overheard you and Chad talking. She thinks your seeing someone else. Someone named Katie."

"Shit," Troy sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"Well what are you waiting for, Dude? Go talk to her."

"No," Troy sighed, walking off in the opposite direction.

For the rest of the day, Troy and Gabriella went on avoiding each other. They awkwardly sat next to each other in homeroom, both staring straight ahead the whole time. Gabriella ate lunch in the library while Troy ate in the Gym. By the end of the day, they had successfully not said one word to each other. And while this came as a relief to Troy, Gabriella was quite thrown off. She knew why she was ignoring him, but what she didn't know was why he was doing the same. Later that evening, after not getting a phone call and explanation, Gabriella decided to go see for herself what was going on. She drove down the few blocks to his house and rang his doorbell.

"Gabriella! How nice to see you again," Mrs. Bolton smiled, letting the Gabriella in. "Troy didn't mention you were coming over."

"He doesn't know I'm here," Gabriella admitted.

"Oh. I see. Well you wait right here and I'll just go get him." Gabriella thanked her and Mrs. Bolton went right up the stairs to Troy's room. She smiled as she saw her son do his homework with his daughter on his lap, playing with her stuffed monkey.

"Troy?"

"Mmmhmm?" Troy responded, not looking up from the calculus homework he was working on.

"There's someone here to see you?"

"Taylor?"

"Nope."

"Chad?"

"No."

"Can you watch her for a minute," Troy pleaded, knowing who was at the door.

"Sure. But you're going to have to tell her eventually."

"We'll see," Troy sighed, leaving the two girls alone. He ran down the stairs two at a time and stopped right in front of Gabriella.

"Hi," he said a bit awkwardly.

"Hey," she said with the same tone.

"We should talk," they both spoke at the same time.

"I should go first," Troy said truthfully. "I know that you overheard Chad and I talking today. But you should know the whole story."

"Troy. It's fine. I don't need the whole story. I just wish that if you just wanted us to be friends that you would just say so."

"But that's not true. I don't want us to be just friends. It's just… God… it's complicated. There's a whole bunch of stuff you don't know about and once you know about it… well none of this may matter anyway."

"Who's Katie, Troy? Because I may be a lot of things, but I won't be the other girl."

"Gabi, what you have to understand is that with me… you will always have to be the other girl," Troy admitted, looking down at his feet. Gabriella felt tears begin to sting her eyes.

"I should go. Have a nice life with Katie."

"Wait. Gabriella."

"What?" She snapped, turning back to face him. He felt the guilt as he looked into her teary eyes.

"I want you to meet someone."

"What?" Gabriella asked, confused, as she watched Troy run back up the stairs. When she saw him come back down he had a baby girl on his waist, being held up with one strong arm.

"You wanted me to meet your sister?" Gabriella asked, exhausted with the conversation.

"No," Troy began. "I wanted you to meet Katie. My daughter."

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will be the final one in this story! Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing!**


	6. Worth It?

"Your… daughter?"

"Yeah. My daughter. Katie."

"Oh. I need to sit down."

"Sit."

"I need some air."

"Sit outside," he offered, leading her out the front door and sitting on the steps with her, Katie on his lap. Gabriella stared as Katie cooed and Troy rubbed her back. Silence.

"So. You have a baby."

"I do." More silence.

"I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to react to this," she admitted, not able to tear her eyes away from the small child.

"Do you want to hold her?" Troy asked hesitantly.

"Okay," she said, looking into Troy's eyes. Troy scooted closer to Gabi, so close that their legs were touching, and placed the baby on her lap. Katie cried in protest and Troy kept her on his lap instead, shrugging an apology. "Umm… I'm not really sure where to start. Usually this is the kind of secret a girl keeps from a boy. Not the other way around."

"Well what do you want to know?"

"Who's the mother?" She asked, looking at the baby's face. Troy inwardly groaned. He knew the question was coming but he was hoping he could avoid it.

"Her name was Kaitlin."

"Was?"

"She died the night Katie was born," Troy said quietly, looking into Gabriella's eyes and pleading for her to understand why he was so hard to read.

"Oh, Troy," she said, suddenly feeling like everything was falling into place. "I'm so sorry. That must have been awful."

"Thanks," he nodded. "It was." Silence again. "You know when I met you, I started to feel really guilty all the time. I never even looked at another girl after Kaitlin, and all the sudden there you were, and I couldn't get my mind off of you."

"Did you love her?"

"You know the weird thing? I thought I did. I really thought I did. But looking back… I mean… we were fifteen. We were young and we were stupid," Troy sighed and looked up into Gabriella's eyes. "I've never told anyone that."

"Troy…"

"Gabriella… if we're going to do this… you have to understand. Katie comes first with me. Always. No matter what, under any and all circumstances."

"As she should."

"And I don't want to be that dad who just brings home random girls who never stick around long enough to bother learning Katie's middle name. So… if we're gonna do this… I need to know that you're in this for real. That this isn't just some fling to you. Because…" Troy was interrupted when Katie began crying. Instinctively, Troy held the child closer and stood up. "Life calls. She's tired," he explained. "She's usually in bed by now. I should go put her down. Do you want to wait, or…?"

"I think I'll go home. I'll talk to you later, Troy." Troy nodded understandingly.

"Goodnight, Gabriella."

"Well?" Mrs. Bolton asked as Troy and Katie entered the kitchen.

"I don't know," he admitted before taking Katie upstairs to tuck her in.

----

"Gabriella?"

"Yes, Mommy?" Gabriella sighed. She wiped her tears as she entered her kitchen to talk to her mother, who truthfully she was hoping to avoid.

"What's wrong, Honey?"

"I was just at Troy's…" Gabriella began.

"Did he say something to upset you?"

"No. I just… I overheard him and Chad talking today. And they kept talking about this girl named Katie. And how the reason Troy wasn't pursuing me was because of her…"

"Oh, Honey…"

"No, mom you don't understand. I met Katie," Gabriella began to cry again.

"And?"

"Katie is his daughter, Mom."

----

"So she just left?" Mrs. Bolton asked quietly, rubbing her son's back as she listened to him relay what had just happened downstairs.

"Yeah. I really liked her, Mama," Troy sighed, leaning into his Mother's arms like he used to when he was little, and how he still did every once and a while when life became too much.

"I know, Baby. Give her time… this was quite a shock for her, I'm sure."

"I think I'm gonna call her. I feel kind of bad that I had to stop the conversation midway."

----

"So you just left?" Mrs. Montez asked, making sure she got the story straight.

"Yeah. What am I supposed to do Mommy? I really liked him," the young girl cried.

"Honey, this is not going to be an easy decision. And Troy was right when he told you that you had to be absolutely sure that this is what you want."

"How am I supposed to know if I'm ready for that?"

"You don't."

"I'm too young to be a mother to someone else's baby," she rationalized.

"I don't think Troy expects or wants you to Mother his child. He just wants you to understand that every decision he makes, he makes with Katie in mind. He can't go out all night like a normal teenager. He has to be able to be reached by his mother at a moments notice. And if he needs to leave you to go take care of his child, you have to be willing to accept that."

"Mommy…"

"You have to decide whether this boy is worth it," Mrs. Montez explained, rubbing her daughter's back soothingly. Just then, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Mrs. Montez said into the phone. "Just a minute, Troy. She's right here." Gabriella looked up at her mother, surprised that Troy was calling.

"Hello?" Gabriella said into the phone, trying to disguise the fact that she had been crying.

"Hey. I just wanted to apologize before… I shouldn't have brought Katie down that late," Troy explained.

"It's okay."

"That's the kind of stuff I was telling you about, though."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like I wanted to stop the conversation where we did. I had to."

"Troy…"

"Gabriella, I'm really sorry. I… I feel like… like I just should have told you from the start. I just didn't want to scare you off."

"Troy, you didn't scare me off. I just… I don't know. I'm seventeen. I don't know if I can handle being in that serious of a relationship so fast. I really like you, Troy."

"I really like you, too. And Gabriella… I understand. Don't feel guilty about it or anything. I put you in a really sucky position."

"I'm sorry, Troy. I just need to think about it," Gabriella sighed, hanging up the phone. Troy sighed on the other end, hanging up with her. About twenty seconds passed before his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Troy said into the phone.

"What's Katie's middle name?" Troy smiled.

"It's Michelle."

"That's pretty."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Troy."

"Goodbye, Gabriella."

"Well?" Ms. Montez asked, walking into the kitchen as her daughter hung up the phone.

"I decided he was worth it."


End file.
